Washington high school football coach sues school that fired him for praying

Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy was known to kneel and pray after each football game, despite orders from the school district to stop. (Lindsey Wasson/AP)

A Washington state high school football coach is suing the district that fired him for leading prayers before and after games.

Joe Kennedy, an assistant football coach at Bremerton High School, is asking for his job back — and the opportunity to continue his post-game prayers about his players' effort and sportsmanship.

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Kennedy had prayed before and after games, undisturbed, since he was hired in 2008, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Students sometimes joined him, voluntarily, the lawsuit states.

Kennedy ignored a supervisor's request last year that he stop praying publicly as he continued to silently kneel and pray, according to the lawsuit. He was later placed on paid administrative leave.

The lawsuit against the school district describes Kennedy as "popular" and "well-respected," and seeks to "vindicate his constitutional and civil rights to engage in the private religious expression that is compelled by his sincerely held religious beliefs."

The school district superintendent's 2015 letter to Kennedy accused him of violating the school board's "Religious-Related Activities and Practices" policy.

High school football coach Joe Kennedy is suing the school district that fired him for praying after football games. (Lindsey Wasson/AP)

"Your talks have included overtly religious references, and you acknowledged that they likely constitute prayer," the superintendent wrote.

The letter also refers to a 1995 federal court ruling that "schools may not allow coaches to initiate, lead or supervise student prayer."

It stated Kennedy's talks with students were not to include religious expression or prayer, and that "they must remain entirely secular in nature, so as to avoid alienation of any team member."

Lawyers for the school said he began a post-game address with "Lord" and ended it with the word "amen," after having acknowledged receipt of the letter.

In 2015, 47 members of Congress addressed the school district in a letter, insisting that its complaint violated the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.